Statement of Principles

Disestablishment
Herman Krieger

I do not believe in "god." I am an American
and that is my right.
It should be obvious to any adult with a working brain that gods - all
gods - are obvious mythology, invented by ignorant and
superstitious men in a time before the dawn of knowledge.

Almost everyone I know still claims to believe in "god".
However, most retain only a vague deism - satisfying the de
facto minimum requirement
- and could not really be called religious. Most of them are just nice
folks who don't think or talk about religion very much, let alone try
to shove it down anyone's throat. Essentially, they are functional atheists.
I do not begrudge them their vestigial beliefs - it is understandable
how they got 'em and why they still have 'em. I think they represent
the majority who would never cause anyone pain over privately held beliefs.
Mostly it never comes up because, in the common, secular affairs of regular
folks, religion is not only inappropriate, it is unwelcome, and it is
an entirely unnecessary source of friction and ill will. Things just
run smoother without having to constantly accommodate some believer's
prayer ritual. Few people really enjoy or appreciate public proselytizing.

Privately held beliefs of individuals are of no consequence to me.
However, true to form, the worst elements of organized superstition continually
try to impose their religion in inappropriate venues; they continually
try to supplant the science of biological evolution with the ridiculous
biblical creationism fairy tale; they continually attempt to insinuate
ritual prayer into public secular events despite legal prohibitions;
they insist that this is a "xian nation" and strive in many
ways towards theocracy; they even insist that non-believers should not
even be considered as citizens; they insist that biblical commandments
be posted in secular courts of law and in government buildings; they
insist that women should be servile spouses and captive breeders. I could
go on, but let it suffice to say that somewhere in there their beliefs
ceased to be privately held opinion and became of some concern to everyone.

I strongly support the Constitution of the United States.
The Constitution does not, in any way, endorse theocracy. The Constitution
is a firewall against theocracy.
I think the Constitution is the most important document ever created by
Humans. And I think the Establishment Clause of the first Amendment is
the smartest thing the Founding Fathers wrote into that document. Everyone
is free to believe any dumbass thing that they want as long as they agree
not to force it upon others. In return, they enjoy protection from the
government and from any other religions overpowering them. What could
possibly be fairer than that? Throw in a completely free ride on our
tax dollars and an utter lack of courage by anyone in government to reign
in their brazen charlatanry and their flagrantly illegal political entanglements
and It is WAY beyond fair. However, given the violent and privileged
past of established religion, and the golden days when they controlled
power and wealth, fair is a serious demotion for them. And they don't
like it. Given that past, religion is poorly served by the Constitution's
prohibition against Establishment. It doesn't appear to me that they
consider the matter settled.

I consider religion to be a cancer on humanity.
It is a malignancy that not only causes great harm, but acts to defeat
the possibility of rational solutions. It is the antithesis of reason
and acts as a catalyst which brings out the worst in humans. It serves
as a framework which allows, even sanctions, horrible abuses of fellow
humans. While posing falsely as the source of all morality, religion
provides justifications for murder, mayhem, hatred and intolerance. While
posing falsely as the source of life, love and compassion, religion diminishes
human worth and promotes the imagined desires and proclamations of clearly
mythological beings above the welfare of fellow humans, rendering any
rational and coherent morality impossible.

Religion is always Opt In, never Opt Out
Religion is widely and erroneously regarded as the default position for
humans. It is tacitly assumed that any variation from that position is
a form of rebellion against authority and is treated with intolerance
and derision. But the fact is that we are all born without those beliefs
only to have them brainwashed into us at an early age when we are defenseless
against such abuse. Beyond that, we are confronted with an astounding
array of religious insanity, all of it irrational, contradictory, exclusionary,
frequently corrupt and violent, and always destructive to knowledge and
harmful to human dignity and freedom. Fortunately, for Americans, our
Founders made religion entirely optional. The Constitution is a secular
framework for the administration of government regardless of religion.
Religious requirements are prohibited by our Constitution and the government.
Any notion that religious belief deserves special treatment or gets special
rights is counter to the letter and the spirit of the Constitution and
contrary to basic human decency.

Religion is both the result of, and a large contributor to, a dark and
violent history.
The reason that xianity holds so much sway over all our lives is simple:
for the greater part of the last 2000 years it has been highly lethal to
be in disagreement with the xian cult. If I had a blank check to oppress,
kill, and torture anyone I wanted, I'll bet I could get grown men to tearfully
expound at length about their undying love for the fucking tooth fairy.
Take a continent full of miserable, illiterate, ignorant and superstitious
peasants, living in the worst kind of squalor, hopelessness, and despair,
living in constant fear of painful death, and completely unacquainted with
joy for a couple of thousand years, and you have a lot of people for whom
the concepts of a "savior " and "heaven" might hold
a certain amount of attraction. Ignorance and superstition, along with
fear and oppression, are the fertile ground in which religion flourishes.
They are also religion's legacy. That and a shitload of dead people.